Feeling your way through a new environment with your tongue might seem like a bad idea.
But a new technology allows people to do just that by turning the supple organ into an extrasensory transmitter.
Mounted on the tongue, the so-called sensory-substitution technology converts signals from a camera or a sensor worn by the user into electrical impulses.
These impulses—described as feeling like champagne bubbles—are then transmitted through nerves in the tongue directly to the brain.
Military researchers say sensory-substitution technology could enhance police and military operations where vision is obstructed.
The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola is testing such a device for scuba divers.
They hope the technology could one day give underwater soldiers hands-free extrasensory abilities similar to those of snakes and fish (related photo: snake "tasting" its surroundings).
Keeping Balanced
Armed with electronic compasses and depth sensors, the scuba divers testing the device receive electric impressions of underwater objects on their tongues.
Michael Zinszer, a former U.S. Navy diver now with Florida State University's Underwater Crime Scene Investigation School in Tallahassee, is helping with the tests.
He says he was able to feel the outline of underwater images on his tongue and locate the corresponding objects very easily.
He says the device could help investigators signal other divers and navigate through murky water.
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